For ERIE Policyholder Ellen Hobby, it was an ordinary Thursday morning before she got the voicemail message from her son, James. Late the night before, the college student in Savannah, Ga., had been robbed at gunpoint.
“I listened in horror as James told me what had happened,” Ellen recalls. “The perpetrators took his wallet, phone, keys and, of course, the car.”
As the thieves made their getaway, James was shaken, but safe.
The car was not.
The carjackers had bailed out of the moving vehicle in an attempt to elude police, leaving the still-running car to crash into the living room of a nearby home. There were no injuries, though the homeowners were understandably surprised.
“At least they found the car,” Ellen said, doing her best to keep a sense of humor after the stressful incident.
It was then Ellen learned, and later wrote in a letter, how glad she was to be with ERIE. Within two hours of the incident, she had received a call confirming that a rental car* was waiting for James. Vernon Kowalski, the ERIE adjuster handling the claim, took it from there.
Additionally, should the perpetrators have attempted to steal James’ identity with information in his wallet, Ellen’s Identity Recovery Coverage** from ERIE would have helped him restore his identity.
“I can’t tell you how hard it is to be a parent over 500 miles away from your child when something like this happens,” Ellen wrote. “I can tell you how great it is to have a company like ERIE and people like Vernon there to help.”
*Coverage varies by state and not all policies include rental coverage after an accident. Check with your Agent to know what’s included with your policy.
**Identity Recovery Coverage is available to add to ERIE homeowners insurance.